By
Lydia Kukua Asamaoh, GNA
Accra, Oct 18, GNA –
Government has this year, made conscious efforts to dredge portions of the
White Volta to reduce the perennial flooding that occurs around the upper
regions as a result of the spillage of the Bagre dam in neighbouring Burkina
Faso.
“This year, one
thing that stood up for local action is the dredging of portions of the White
Volta River, which floods annually.
“So this year, we
are experiencing no floods even if the Bagre dam is spilled”, Ms Adwoa
Paintsil, Director in-charge of Environmental Quality, Water Resources
Commission, said assuredly.
She was speaking to
the Ghana News Agency at the ongoing second Climate Chance Summit Africa 2019,
scheduled to close on Friday.
The three-day
Climate Chance Summit Africa 2019, which opened on Wednesday, had gathered
subnational, local governments and non-state actors in Africa, to discuss and
strengthen coalitions in the implementation of adopted climate actions in
Africa.
Ghana is hosting the
summit in collaboration with the Climate Chance Association, a global body, and
the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana, as well as the Ministry
of Local Government and Rural Development.
Ms Paintsil
explained that the annual flooding of the White Volta was not only due to the
spilling of the Bagre dam but also due to the sedimentation of the river
channels.
She said most of the
channels were so choked that islands had formed at certain portions and this
had led to the dredging in places that experienced flooding.
She indicated that
the dredging, which was still ongoing, was being undertaken by the government
through the Ministries of Works and Housing, Food and Agriculture, and the
Environment and Science, under a project called the “the emergency flood
mitigation works of the White Volta,.
She said the project
also involved a programme of developing some portions of the land around the
area for farmers to prevent them from farming within the riverbeds as they used
to do.
She said the project
also involved building a dam at Pwalugu, as part of the long term plan to be
able to hold the flood waters within the river.
Ms Paintsil
recounted that before the dredging started, sedimentation had reached a level
that with the least rain, flooding occurred in the area.
“The President
himself have gone there to inspect the work, and he is happy with it” she
noted.
The Bagre dam is
usually opened around August and September every year, the peak raining season
for the upper regions of Ghana and in Burkina Faso.
Ms Paintsil
explained that over the years, the Burkinabe authorities had raised the volume
of their dam by 1.5 meters to hold back a lot of water.
However, there were
still flooding in the region and so Ghana, decided to dredge the river for the
water could flow.
She noted that if
the dredged channels were maintained, the flooding of the area would be a thing
of the past.
There is also the
development of early flood warning systems as well as local maps developed for
local government for them to demarcate their spatial planning areas for
flooding.
Earlier, Ms Paintsil
announced at a side-event that Ghana had taken measures to roll out various
activities and programmes as a means of adapting to climate change impact,
especially in the area of flooding and water security.
“So far, we have
done quite a number of interventions, some policy and real actions on the
ground.
There was also the
Dakar River restoration project, a tributary of the Volta River, she added.
GNA
